I don't own Twilight or its characters. Stephenie Meyer does.

Cheryl and Gabby, thank you for pre-reading, and April, thank you for editing. Any mistakes left are my own.

Ch. 22

"Well don't the two of you look all sweet and cozy."

I swallowed the marshmallow in my mouth whole as I felt foolish in front of the tall blonde vampire, standing on the porch steps. Compared to her I felt frumpy and inadequate. She was beautiful—her looks could easily rival Rosalie.

"Tanya, what are you doing here?" Edward asked, sounding unhappy to see her.

She grinned and tossed back her head, so her golden curls shook. "We were bored and decided to visit family for Christmas."

"All of you?" Edward looked wary.

Tanya tilted her head from side to side. "Okay…maybe not Irina. She is still in a snit about what happened to Laurent. Although I can't see why, the guy was a snake and was clearly using her." Tanya frowned before her golden eyes focused on me. "So enough about her. Do not be rude, Edward, introduce me to your little human…your very pregnant human." She arched and eyebrow.

"Bella, this is Tanya. She is one of our cousins from Denali and the leader of their coven. Tanya, this is my fiancée, Bella. And, yes, Bella is a surrogate for good friend of hers. She's very near her due date and shouldn't be upset."

Tanya's nostrils flared slightly as she snorted. "I'm not uncivilized. I was rather curious about the human who finally managed to capture the elusive Edward Cullen's heart. Rose said you were proposing tonight. I had to see it for myself. May I be the first to congratulate you."

"Thank you. It's nice to meet you, Tanya," I told her.

"You too, Bella. I'm glad Edward finally found his balls and went back to his mate. He was—"

"That is enough," Edward interrupted her.

"Be kind, Tanya, we don't want Bella to get the wrong impression of us."

I turned my head to see the rest of the family and a few others walking toward us. The one who spoken had dark brown hair and looked friendly. She was followed closely by a dark-haired male.

"I think it's a wonderful thing you are doing for your friend," she told me with a warm smile.

"Bella, this is Carmen and her mate, Eleazar, behind them is Kate." Edward introduced them to me.

"Pleased to meet you all," I said as I started to shiver.

"Excuse us, please." Edward stepped around Tanya.

"Wait, we want our turn to congratulate you." Alice raced up the steps to us.

"Do it inside, where it is warmer," Edward called over his shoulder.

Alice caught up to us and seemed to silently communicate to Edward.

"I know, Alice, you're not to blame. Thank you again for tonight," he told her.

"Yes, thank you, Alice, everything was beautiful," I said to her.

She beamed and her golden eyes sparkled. "I can't take the credit. Edward had the vision and I only did the grunt work. We are inside, Edward, put her down so I can hug my soon-to-be-sister."

Edward reluctantly set me on my feet and had barely let me go before Alice hugged me while squealing. She took a step back and held up my hand so she could see the ring.

"It's perfect. So…are you in need of a wedding planner?" She bounced in her spot.

"Good grief, Alice. They've been engaged all of five minutes," Emmett teased as he practically hip-checked her out of the way and pulled me into a hug—that was a little too tight.

"Emmett, careful," Edward growled.

Emmett rolled his eyes. "You'd think you would be in a better mood after she said yes. I don't know who is looking forward to you having the babies more. Angela and Ben…you…or us so Eddie here can chillax," he said humorously.

"Don't start trouble, Emmett." Rosalie smirked as she took her turn congratulating us.

After her, the rest of the family took their turn, except the other two new vampires. Eleazar was weirding me out by the way he stood further back from everyone, staring at me as if I was an exhibit in a museum.

Kate was approaching me one moment with her hand extended, and the next, Edward was shielding me, crouched in a protective stance. Tanya immediately rushed to Kate's side, while Carlisle came forward and placed his hand on Edward's shoulder.

"What's going on here?" Carlisle asked.

"I would like to know that too?" Tanya's eyes narrowed.

Edward straightened and his eyes snapped to Jasper, leveling him with a glare.

"I told you both it wouldn't work. Happy now?" Alice announced. "I knew Kate wouldn't be able to keep her mind blank from Edward."

"You were going to shock Bella?" Esme gasped.

"Kate." Carmen sounded equally as appalled.

"Not enough for it to hurt her. Jasper wanted to test out his theory she would be able to block me," Kate explained.

"Even small shocks aren't the best idea while Bella is pregnant. Perhaps after she delivers, but you should still have asked her first." Carlisle dropped his hand from Edward's shoulder.

"That would be my fault. I thought it was best to catch her off guard to properly test her," Jasper answered.

"No," Edward stated flatly.

"Wait...are you suggesting I might be able to block whatever Kate can do, like I can Edward?" I grew intrigued.

"I don't know, which is why I'm curious. There has to be some explanation for it," Jasper admitted.

"Interesting…can you read humans like you can vampires, old friend?" Carlisle looked at Eleazar.

"On occasion. I can tell you that if a human can manifest a powerful latent talent, then as a vampire their talent would be exceptionally formidable—much like Alex or Jane," Eleazar answered him.

"Can you read anything off of Bella?" Edward asked, suddenly seemingly as interested as me.

"No, nothing at all. But if she can block Edward from reading her mind, it could be very well possible she's also blocking me. Which would mean she'd be a type of shield. Jasper and Alice, have you been able to use your talents on her?"

"Yes. Well unless the wolves are here but then I can't see anyone," Alice admitted.

"She's blocked me twice," Jasper admitted. "The first was years ago when she was upset when James was after her. The second a few months ago, when she was upset about the meadow being burned. I tried to help her, but I couldn't."

"I have?" I wondered why this was the first I was hearing about it.

Jasper gave me a nod before speaking to everyone in the room. "Which is why I wanted to see if it was anomalies or if there was something more. I wouldn't have asked Kate to help if I didn't trust her not to hurt Bella."

"What exactly is it that you can do?" I asked.

Kate held up her hand and wiggled her fingers "When I touch someone, I can make them feel different levels of pain—from a tingling sensation to bringing them to their knees and incapacitating them. It started with my hands, and over time, I've been able to cover my whole body."

"That's cool," I admitted.

"Want to see if it works?" She held out her palm.

Edward tensed immediately, and I reached out for his hand. "I think we should wait until after the babies are here."

"Not even then," Edward mumbled, then turned to me. "I'm sure you're tired and would like to lie down."

"I'm sure the girl can speak up for herself, Edward. Besides we haven't nearly gotten a chance to visit with her," Tanya said.

"Edward isn't wrong. Bella, you should at least sit. I can see from here your ankles are swollen," Dr. Cullen advised.

"Actually, I agree with Edward. I'm exhausted from the long day, so I'm going to excuse myself." I barely finished speaking before I was in Edward's arms and we were halfway to the second floor.

"Does he always carry her around?" I heard Kate ask.

I didn't hear anyone respond as I became focused on Edward. His face was pinched in annoyance, no longer looking jubilant. I ran my finger through the hairs by the nape of his neck—his shoulders relaxed slightly. I brought my left hand up to make a point of examine my ring.

"Look, it almost sparkles brighter than you in the sun," I commented lightly.

He glanced down at it and the corner of his mouth lifted. "Have I thanked you yet for making me a very happy man?"

"Are you? Because for a guy who just got engaged, you're awfully grumpy," I teased.

He gave me an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, love. It bothers me that they question about how I care for you."

"I don't think they mean anything bad by it. They're just not used to how protective you are of me or a mated couple that's half vampire and the other human," I reasoned with him.

He nodded and kissed my forehead. "You have a good point."

I couldn't hide my yawn and I rested my head on his shoulder. "Today feels like the longest one ever."

"Not tonight, Alice," Edward said softly but I still heard him.

"What does she want?" I mumbled.

"For you to agree she can plan our wedding." He chuckled.

"We can get married in the morning..." Another yawn interrupted my speaking.

"In the morning, isn't that rather soon?" Edward sounded amused.

"Pfft…Alice can pull it off. What, are you afraid people will think we're getting married because I'm preggo?"

I heard laughter somewhere in the house—I was pretty sure it was Emmett.

"I was thinking it would be better we give your mother time to adjust. It was only just earlier today she was trying to send you on a singles cruise. There's no hurry."

"She'll be upset we are getting married so soon, but she would be more upset to miss it. She and Phil are already here so the timing is perfect. Charlie…shoot Charlie is working. We can get married the day after. Wait… Boxing day isn't about fighting is it?"

"Okay, now I definitely know you're too out of it to make decisions." Edward laughed.

"No…I'm not," I argued. "I don't need anything big, just you."

SS

When I woke up in the morning, the first thing I did was look at my left hand. I stared in disappointment at my bare fingers. I searched the sheets and under my pillow to see if my ring had fallen off in my sleep. I found nothing but wrinkled sheets and disappointment.

Edward had proposed...right? Or was it another crazy dream?

As I was struggling to sit up in bed, Edward entered the room carrying a tray. He sped up and placed it on the nightstand and gave me a hand.

"Are you alright, love? You look upset," he asked, brushing the hair off my face.

I paused, knowing I couldn't very well ask him if he proposed or if I'd imagined it. It would be mortifying either way. "I need a human moment and got stuck like a turtle on its back," I explained.

He smirked. "I'll give you a hand then it's back to bed. Your ankles are still very swollen, you were on your feet too long yesterday."

"Which doctor's orders?" I challenged him.

"Carlisle's. He checked on you before he left for work." Edward helped me to my feet.

I waddled my way to the bathroom. As I was washing up, a sparkle caught my eye and I discovered my ring hanging on the chain of my necklace next to the heart. I placed my hand over and sighed with a relief. I wasn't losing my mind after all.

When I reentered the room, Edward had a bed tray set up on top and the pillows were fluffed up waiting for me. He wasn't kidding about staying in the bed. In the past, I was at least allowed to sit at the desk in the room to eat.

"Are they really that bad?" I tried to look down, but I couldn't see anything.

"Yes. Your fingers are swelling too, which why I moved your ring to your necklace. I was concerned it may cut off circulation," he explained as he helped me get settled.

"Warn me next time. You had me worried I'd lost it in the bed." I only half told him the truth.

"Was that why you were so upset? I'm sorry, love, you were sleeping so soundly I didn't want to wake you for something so simple," he apologized as he set my tray as close as he could. "Merry Christmas."

I smiled. "Merry Christmas." I then groaned. "Renée is going to have a fit that I'm stuck in bed."

Edward's expression darkened. "I really couldn't care less what your mother might disapprove about. She should be more concerned about your health." His expression changed. "How much do you remember from our conversation of when I brought you up here?"

"Umm." I paused as I took a bite of my omelet. "You were annoyed by your cousins for giving you a hard time."

"Anything after that?" he prompted, sitting next to me on the bed and casually played with one of my curls.

"Vaguely remember talking about getting married while everyone was here," I said, unsure if I had dreamed that part. "It would make sense. Renée and Phil wouldn't have to fly back and your family from Alaska is already here. I don't want a big wedding just something small an intimate." I stopped when I saw Edward frowning.

"What, you don't want to marry a very pregnant bride?" I attempted to joke, but still felt a sting a disappointment.

"No. But only for the reasons that your health is my greatest concern." He lifted my leg enough so I could see.

My eyes widened in horror. "Oh…my God, they look horrible."

He grimaced. "I didn't want to alarm you, only to show how big a concern it is. If it doesn't go down soon or you blood pressure gets worse…"

"I know…I know. I could have preeclampsia, and I'll be induced early." I nibbled on my toast.

"How about the spring…March even. We will have a vacation from school," Edward suggested.

"Okay. Sounds like a plan," I agreed. "I hope your cousins don't think I'm rude for staying up here."

"They already left for home," Edward told me.

"That was a fast visit." I took a sip of my juice.

"We found out the real reason for their visit was they wanted permission to let Irina take out Jacob in retaliation for Laurent. A win-win in their minds, she will be happy to get revenge and it would help make you safe," he explained.

I started choking on my juice as I stared at Edward in astonishment.

A/N: The idea of Bella blocking Jasper might be a stretch, but it has been something that has always been at the back of my mind since the first book. The scene in the hotel when she tells him to stop trying to help her and it instantly stops. I always wondered if he did or if she did it herself. We only saw the beginnings of her power in Breaking Dawn. It could be possible her shield would be able to block more.

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